Bright Enobakhare (born 8 February 1998) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Rukh Lviv in the Ukrainian Premier League.

Career

Early career

Having moved from his native

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

aged 14, Enobakhare started playing for Northfield Town Juniors where he was part of the team coached by Liam Bryan who won the Birmingham youth County FA cup in 2014, scoring two goals for Northfield Town as they beat Rugby Town 3–1 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

. Following his success Enobakhare had trials at several clubs before joining the academy system at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In the summer of 2015, Enobakhare signed his first professional contract with

, scoring in a 3–2 friendly win over Chambly on his debut. He scored the winner in a 4–3 friendly win over Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium on 2 August. Four days later, manager

Kenny Jackett Kenneth Francis Jackett (born 5 January 1962) is a former professional football player and manager, who is currently Director of Football at club Gillingham. A skilful left-footed player, able to play in defence or midfield, Jackett was cappe ...

stated that Enobakhare was going to play in the first team during the upcoming season, due to a shortage of other forwards. On 11 August 2015, Enobakhare was first included in Wolves' matchday squad, remaining an unused substitute in their 2–1 win over Newport County in the first round of the League Cup. Two weeks later in the next round, he was given his debut as a starter, and scored within the first three minutes when set up by

Adam Le Fondre Glenville Adam James Le Fondre (born 2 December 1986), known as Adam Le Fondre, is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sydney FC in the A-League. He previously played for his hometown club Stockport County as well a ...

. On 29 September, he played his first game in

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, replacing Le Fondre for the final seven minutes of a 3–0 Championship win at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Enobakhare scored his first league goal for Wolves in a 2–1 home win against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

on 23 September 2017 after replacing

Ivan Cavaleiro Ivan Ricardo Neves Abreu Cavaleiro (born 18 October 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Ligue 1 club Lille. Mainly a winger, he can also play as a forward. A product of Benfica's youth system, he was part of the club's ...

in the 65th minute. On 31 August 2018, Enobakhare was loaned to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

until the new year, when he moved to League One side

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on loan for the remainder of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. On 8 August 2019, Enobakhare joined Championship club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

on loan for the season. He played an EFL Cup game and two league matches as a substitute, trained with their youth team for several months and returned to Wolves prematurely in January. On 14 May 2020, Enobakhare left Wolves by a mutual agreement after a total of 49 first team appearances and 3 goals for his parent club.

AEK Athens

On 20 June 2020, AEK Athens officially announced the acquisition of Enobakhare on a three-year deal, on a free transfer. On 27 September 2020, he scored his first goal for the club on his debut against Lamia after coming on as a substitute 8 minutes earlier. On 5 October 2020, Enobakhare mutually dissolved his contract with the club just a few months after reaching an agreement with them. He played just 14 minutes in the

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

, in the match against Lamia.

East Bengal

On 1 January 2021, Bright Enobakhare joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

side

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

for the remainder of

2020–21 Indian Super League season The 2020–21 Indian Super League season was the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL) since its formation and the 25th season of the top division of the Indian football league system. The season started on 20 November 2020 and ended ...

. At that time, the century-old club was struggling in their very first appearance in this tournament. His inclusion in the team had an immediate impact. On 3 January 2021, he made his debut for the club and scored his first goal in the same match and his team won their match against Odisha FC. In the very next match, Enobakhare scored a spectacular solo goal to help his team get a point against FC Goa. He assisted

Scott Neville Scott Neville (born 11 January 1989) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Brisbane Roar in the A-League. Personal life Scott Neville is the son of former English Football League pro, Steve Neville. Steve Nevi ...

for a late equalizer in a 1–1 draw against Kerala Blasters.

Coventry City

On 13 July 2021, Enobakhare signed a two-year contract with

on a free transfer. On 1 November 2021 however, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent with Enobakhare having only made one appearance for the club that season, an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

defeat to Northampton Town.

Hapoel Jerusalem

On 30 January 2022 signed for

Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Jerusalem is a sport organization in Jerusalem as a local branch of the Hapoel movement. The branch was established in the 1920s and represents the city in more sports than any other sport organization in Jerusalem. Today, the club's leadi ...

He was later released on the 4th of April due to missing training and being caught drunk driving.

Career statistics

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2017–18 Individual *Coventry City Young Player of the Year award: 2018–19 * 2020–21 ISL Fans' Goal of the week: Week 10, Week 19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Enobakhare, Bright 1998 births Living people Footballers from Benin City Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Northfield Town F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players East Bengal Club players Hapoel Jerusalem F.C. players FC Rukh Lviv players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Super League Greece players Indian Super League players Israeli Premier League players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in India Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine